Richard's voice suddenly grew hoarse as he began to recount everything that had happened at school. Gerald could barely restrain himself from immediately spanking his son and starting a war with the wizards.
"Okay, so it's all clear," the Duke, having listened to his son's story, slapped his palms on the armrests of his chair. "The Headmaster of Hogwarts is mad. He's used crude manipulation to orchestrate some kind of showdown with a competitor right inside the school. He's turned the school into a dangerous place, but no one cares, because the Headmaster of a wizarding school has almost more power than the Minister of Magic. But you, Richie... You're a smart boy, a genius... How could you get involved in this mess, and against my orders, no less?"
"Dad, no one will believe in the apocalypse," Richard said sadly. "Even you, who know my predictions often come true, don't believe it either. I have to do something to save at least part of humanity, and if possible, prevent a catastrophe. After all, no amount of power or money will help us survive the apocalypse."
"Those excuses won't help you," the Duke shook his head reproachfully. "You'll definitely get the belt. But good for you for at least thinking of arranging an alibi."
"Dad, no one but you and me knows I have the Philosopher's Stone," Richard said. "Don't tell anyone, or we won't survive long."
"I understand that," Gerald frowned thoughtfully. "What did you promise the intelligence services for your help? Do they know why this operation was necessary?"
"Nonsense," Richard waved his hand dismissively. "I told Blade I was going to copy several important books of secret spells kept in the Headmaster's vault. For help with an alibi, I promised to enchant a dozen military fighters with invisibility-not for free, of course. Luckily, I've got a new magical technology for that. And I also promised to sell a couple of the OBChR."
- OBChR? - Gerald didn't understand what they were talking about.
"A huge, armored, humanoid robot," Richard explained.
Gerald's eyes widened in amazement and he exclaimed in a completely unaristocratic manner:
- Why do the secret services need a giant armored robot?!
"Dad, how should I know?" Richard shrugged. "Well, they wanted a couple of flying OBChRs that could reach rocket speeds, have plasma cutters shoot out of their hands, shoot lasers from their eyes, and have a bunch of weapons attached to their hulls. It wouldn't be hard for me to custom-order something like that for them. Especially since they're paying fifty million pounds for each OBChR, and their production cost is no more than a million."
"If the intelligence agencies believe you can install such things, then I'll have to believe in these fantastic 'technologies' too," Gerald said. "By the way, I wanted to tell you some good news. Richie, you've been nominated for the Nobel Prize. You need to be in Sweden on December 10th. I hope they let you out of school. I'll write a letter to your Headmaster."
"Oh!" Richard's face broke into a wide grin. "Great! Dad, I was planning on having a big press conference this summer."
"Why?" Rich Sr. asked suspiciously.
"I want to make a bold statement about Rich Junior's technological innovations and new industries. I'll announce my company's plans to soon launch the latest, safe, and environmentally friendly cold fusion power plants; to build the first private spacecraft; to launch hundreds of satellites to provide satellite communications, navigation, and free internet access to everyone on earth."
"Richie, the scientific community will laugh at you," Gerald shook his head discontentedly.
"I know, but it would only give me more publicity and would also legitimize the work of the company's 'secret research and production division.' Dad, it should all look like scientists will laugh and twirl their fingers at their temples, and then power plants, spacecraft, satellites, and so on will actually appear. And then no one will be surprised, they'll just accept it all as a given, and they'll enjoy fast internet, affordable communications, and navigation. Winning the Nobel Prize would play into my hands. No one will even think that all my devices are actually magical artifacts. And who among the average person knows how technology works? No one cares, the main thing is that it works."
"It's crazy, but I won't stop you," Gerald replied. "But to get permission to build the power plants, you'll have to talk to Granny."
- She won't refuse me such a small thing...
She won't refuse, except that I'll have to part with ten percent of the power plant shares and give them to 'granny,'" Gerald said. "Now let's go and reinforce in practice that a noble gentleman shouldn't stick his head into trouble..."
"Dad, maybe we can do without the belt?" Richard asked hopefully.
"No," the Duke shook his head. "It's absolutely impossible. I want you to think with your head next time. There are people specially trained to take risks. And you did the right thing by involving them in this matter, but you used this resource completely ineptly."
"It's always like this," a long, sad sigh escaped Rich Jr.'s chest. "You want to save the world, make it better, and you get a belt for it... Life is cruel and unfair."
***
Three days later, when Richard was finally able to sit up normally, he became frantically active. Too many tasks required his undivided attention.
Richie, accompanied by Detective Potter and bodyguard Stephen, traveled through the portal from Eaton Hall to 69 Rich Street and to the Rich Workshop, and made several stops in Diagon Alley and the Rich Group office.
The foundation was laid for the creation of divisions: "Rich Electricals", which would deal with energy; "Rich Skynet" - artificial intelligence; "Rich Galanet" - telecommunications; "Rich British Space" - as the name suggests, this division will deal with space programs; "Galaxy Engineering" - this division will be engaged in the wholesale sale of goods of wizards under the guise of high-tech microelectronics to various factories (Richard's plans included organizing the production of microchips by wizards, which would only need to be installed on any boards, and these chips would be positioned and work as quantum transmitters, and in the future, some other product would certainly appear); "Holovision" - holograms and holoprojects (for now only their technical development based on "prototypes", that is, magical analogues, since the production of holographic projectors by wizards is a unique job, and Rich Jr. needs a mass product).
Several grandiose buildings were erected on land in Scotland near the Rich Workshop.
Firstly, a skyscraper that would house offices for new employees - magicians from all over the world (Richie did not intend to limit himself to magicians from Great Britain, he decided to attract talented magicians from all countries).
Secondly, a multi-level bunker was being constructed-a very spacious structure within which the spaceship would be created, and away from prying eyes, the mages would enchant military equipment, create the OBChR, and implement similar projects.
There was plenty of work to do on the surface, too. A spacious parking lot and a road needed to be built, along with a beautiful park around the lake. It wouldn't do for a reputable company to have unimproved grounds.
All buildings will be powered by a new experimental power system, based on the magical system that powers the Hogwarts Express. Cheap, even free, electricity allows for great freedom: electric lighting can be installed everywhere and climate control can be implemented throughout the building. It's easier to provide lighting and heating using technical means, as quickly casting spells using the classical method on a building as large as a skyscraper would require hiring around a thousand wizards. This is more expensive than purchasing a small batch of equipment and tasking a team of Rich Workshop specialists with replicating and enchanting it. The result will be very cheap, durable, and long-lasting equipment, light bulbs, and the like.
Another line of business that Richie ordered created as quickly as possible was a small company that would manufacture laboratory glassware. The company was quite small, requiring relatively inexpensive equipment, but the key was that it would generate over 100% profit even if it operated at a loss. How would this be accomplished? Naturally, through fraud. The company, "Metal Glazes," would manufacture laboratory glassware from free platinum. Naturally, on paper, the platinum would be purchased from a shady company registered offshore, but in reality, Richie would create this expensive material himself in his spare time and sell it at a premium to market value as finished products that wouldn't require any numbering.
***
Another July day delighted residents of the UK with sunny and warm weather. But Richie had no time to enjoy the hot summer air. He had a lot to do.
A sudden telephone call caught young Rich in his London home, from where he was just about to go to the office and find out how things were going with the hedge fund.